LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A bill that would have allowed people to openly carry handguns in Arkansas failed to clear a House panel on Tuesday, even after the bill's sponsor narrowed its scope to allow the practice only in some rural parts of the state.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 9-8 in favor of the bill, which failed to garner the 11-vote majority needed to pass. The measure would have allowed the open carry of handguns in unincorporated areas of the state and protected all concealed carry permit holders from prosecution for inadvertently displaying their weapons.

The original version of the bill called for the state to replace its entire concealed carry law - under which about 130,000 residents have received permits - with a statute authorizing open carry licenses.

Rep. Sue Scott, the Rogers Republican who sponsored the bill, said she narrowed the bill's scope hoping to win support for it. Republican House Speaker Davy Carter and Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe have both said they're opposed to allowing open carry.

Scott called the more limited open carry proposal a "baby step" toward allowing full open carry in Arkansas, which she said is needed to deter crime and expand gun ownership rights.

Some committee members said they were concerned about technical language in the amended version of the bill. Scott said she planned to address those concerns and to resubmit the bill to the committee.

State Police Director Stan Witt told lawmakers Tuesday that law enforcement opposes allowing the open carry of handguns, even in areas covered by the amended bill, because it could threaten officers' safety.

"If a person is allowed to open carry, that would likely cause an officer to wonder whether that person is legally carrying or not. That critical second could cost an officer his life," he said. "If we respond to a situation where gunshots are involved, and we get there and there are several others with open carry, how long is it going to take us to find who the bad guy is?"